By sweeping their road trip through Utah, defeating the Utes and No. 19 BYU, UCF put itself solidly on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
The Knights will look for more Saturday night in Orlando, where they host Baylor in another Big 12 Conference contest.
“Any time you can have some success, that helps guys with their overall confidence,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said on Friday. “They’ve been spirited all season long and are working on getting better. They know it’s a process.”
The 97-84 drilling of a BYU team coming off a signature win of its own, over Iowa State, was a big step in the process. The Knights (20-7, 9-6 Big 12) drilled 14 of 24 3-point attempts and established a 52-28 halftime lead, getting 24 points and 11 assists from Themus Fulks plus 24 points from Jordan Burks.
UCF’s Chris Johnson said the key to continued success is to not take anything for granted.
“We’re just trying to stay hungry and not getting complacent while focusing on the next game,” he said.
While the Knights aim to polish their postseason resume, the Bears (14-14, 4-11) simply hope to qualify for a postseason tourney. They nearly pulled off a huge upset that would have clinched the accomplishment but lost 87-80 at home against No. 2 Arizona on Tuesday.
Baylor led 44-34 early in the second half but simply couldn’t get stops down the stretch against the Big 12 leaders. Cameron Carr put up 26 points for the Bears, who shot 49.1% from the field and committed only five turnovers but still took their fifth loss in six games.
Barring a string of wins that would include multiple victories at the conference tournament, the Bears are likely to miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017-18.
“As long as we play, we control our own destiny,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “I think that’s a blessing for most colleges from this standpoint. And in the Big 12, you have an opportunity to earn it from regular season or in the tournament.”
